People always commenting about size of baby

[ChunkyLove]

I don't know if I'm unreasonable or not but everyone who sees my baby is always going on about how chubby he is.

He is big, chunky with rolls! But the way everyone keeps mentioning it is making me paranoid that he's too big (he's still under 6 months). So much so that I even spoke to the GP to make sure I wasn't feeding him too much.

Everyone always says it as a positive thing (chubby babies are cute, that sort of thing...) But I don't know, it bothers me. Mainly because it worries me that he's too big.

If you had a big baby did you have this? And did it concern you? Did your chubby babies grow into big toddlers, children, adults? Or did it even out?

He's perfect to me but he's my first.

Some people open their mouth without thinking and noise comes out. Babies size and weight are misleading. I know of people making these kinds of comments and it's not in an endearing way and the mums are sick of it.

Yep dd tall and 75th centile for weight. Ds 12 months younger (they're 3 and 2) and they look like twins from the back. He is huge, so broad and ridiculously tall.

Yep, I had this with DD2, everyone told me I was bf her too much because she was so round and rolly. I loved it as my eldest was tiny and I worried a lot. She slimmed down at 6m when she started to crawl and even more once she walked, shes now slim at 2 and I miss the chub

Both of mine were chubbers, I had oversupply and used to joke it was like fois gras

They were both born on the top centiles and remained there. So far in DD1 that has translated into a tall, athletic figure at 5.5 and DD2 at 2.5 is probably still a bit on the chubby side but starting to stretch out. I’m sure yours will be the same.

Chubby babies are gorgeous though!

My first was over 10lb and people commented on it all the time and I was mega proud.

In fact when anyone ever said he was tiny (meaning a tiny human) i was affronted!

One of my favourite things about babies is the rings of fat on their arms.

It's likely that other people find this cute and are excited, not trying to judge you or your beautiful baby.

Btw if it means anything to you, all my babies were whoppers and are all skinny kids now

I’ve got 3. Number 1 was big, number 2 was huge and number 3 was a skinny little thing. Everyone commented out big number two was. All were exclusively BF for 5/6 months. Some babies are just bigger than others.

Yeah I had the opposite, starting with one stupid woman in maternity hospital saying “oh gosh just how premature was your baby”. She was full term and 6lb2. She just happened to be very long and thin. Top ten percentile for height, bottom ten for weight. And at 23 years old now, five foot nine, and a size eight, she’s pretty much stayed that way, 😂

Just ignore it. People just make comments. I’m sure your baby is fine.💐

I imagine people are just being polite and making conversation but because it’s something you’re sensitive to, it feels like more people say it and there is a meaning behind it. I’ve had: so tiny, so big, so bald, so blond etc. I really wouldn’t worry.

People just love chunky babies. The rolls, the squidge, the cheeks. They don't mean any harm, but I can see how annoying it would be! People just have to find something obvious to comment on. My daughter is a redhead so every comment revolves around her hair.

Your baby is perfect how he is!

My son was born and the 90th percentile for both height and weight. His nickname was chugger because he was so big when he was commando crawling. But at 14 he is now 45th percentile height and 16th percentile weight and a very slim gentle child. Honestly, enjoy the fatness it means they bounce when they fall over.

Yes, same. It was hugely upsetting at the time for reasons I couldn’t quite explain but now, seven years later, I of course don’t care at all. He’s tall and slim and happy. And second what others say - you will be very grateful when baby inevitably gets sick and doesn’t eat for few days.

My youngest son was 9lbs 2oz when he was born so not overly huge and not particularly chunky but he just continued to put weight on and grew quickly. I remember being in Tesco and the lady at the counter called her friend over from another desk to come and see how huge my then 3 month old was, she thought he was at least 8months!
He was usually in the 95th percentile for weight and off the chart for length when I took him to the well baby clinic or for vaccinations.
I used to feel bad for him as when he was in nursery and early primary as everyone thought he was a few years older than he was but it never bothered him.
He's now 13yrs 9ld, 6ft 2 and like a bean pole and loves being taller than the rest of us!
Don't let it annoy you, just enjoy your baby!

Ds was 9.5 lb and all I got were comments about his size. Especially from the men in our nct groups when we did socials, but it really ...hurt to hear him called bruiser, a future rugby player and stuff. It never seemed to be about him being cute and Roly, like other posters are saying. .
(It didn't help he looked a bit like Winston Churchill)

Part of it was he was a really alert baby (which was the other thing people commented on, I just wished people would chose that one to talk about), partly I think it's left over from disordered eating on my part and I always took it personally - like 'what did you eat while pregnant to make a monsters, you must have fat genes' or whatever.

I had a chubby baby with gorgeous fat rolls and bracelets on his writs and ankles. You should see him now — a perfect figure with a six pack almost - at 10.

I looooove a chunky baby, both of mine were born large (10 pounders) and they had lovely rolls on both arms and legs that everyone loved giggling about. I get what you’re saying but do try to ignore them.

I had a long but scrawny baby, got loads of comments, oh where are those cute little baby rolls, we need to fatten you up. He was an absolute milk monster and I was BF so I'd always point out that he was more than well fed, I think for someone with a more anxious disposition it could've been very harmful.

He's now a toddler, still lean but tall ish for his age, now people comment on how much he eats (we don't give him junk, comments are about meals etc)and how slim he is. Honestly I think people will find anything to comment about. My favourite so far has been a friend's partner 'oh aren't you adorable, and that's such a cute ickle diny winy saur'. DS: I'm not aborable I'm DSName, and he's my triceratops' , of course I gave a little laugh and said oh he's so matter of fact, he doesn't mean to be rude, sorry. But actually I was pleased he challenged her.

I must remember not to comment when I see a chunky baby which seems forever in lockdown - I love them too. Dd was breast fed, no formula, and was huge. She had chickenpox badly and was hospitalised for a week. She lost loads of weight and I was very glad she had those extra rolls to begin with.

My twins are 17 months. Conversation goes like this

Are they twins?
Yes
Identical?
Yes
Oh lovely, how old are they?
17 months
17 months??
Yes
Gosh they are big aren't they!
Tell me about it!!

Then they make some comment about how gorgeous they are and we agree again. Honestly out of all the stupid things I'd had said to be over the last 6 years with an older medically complex child and now twins, it's just friendly natter.

I’ve got 5 biological kids. Without fail they were all either massive or tiny according to other people.

The one that was the most average in size apparently had “millions” of hair.

People just comment on the first thing they notice. Don’t worry about it.

There really isn't much to say about a baby, so people comment on their appearance. It will always be weight, hair, eyes or outfit, don't worry about it. Enjoy your baby.

Aww everyone loves a chubby baby, try not to take it as a criticism.
I think it's easy to be very sensitive to this kind of comment and I don't think it's appropriate to comment on the size of anyone no matter how young, but I think it's culturally ingrained to remark on the size of infants for some bizarre reason.

DS2 was huge - shaped like a little rugby ball. He skipped centiles & PHN referred us to a feeding clinic in the local hospital. I arrived with my belter to find loads of parents with frail obviously sick little babies, feeding tubes etc. I felt like a total fraud. Pediatrician looked askance & told me to not let him feed to sleep etc.

I do admit at the time I'd fallen hard for that particular baby book (this was 2007 - anyone remember?) that said you have to wake from naps for feeds to make sure you get all their calories in during the day so they'll sleep through the night. Maybe I was over feeding Anyway same story as all pp- weight fell off as soon as he started moving. He's always been on 95th centile & he's 3" taller than me at 14. He's lanky and not at all overweight. His big brother is 6'2"

My two were chunky babies. Oldest is 13 now, 5'8 and perfectly proportioned, the youngest is shorter obviously but not overweight. They both quickly lost their chubbiness when they got mobile.

I think it's just an easy thing to comment upon.
My eldest was 5 lb at birth and all the comments were about how tiny he was, shouldn't I be topping him up with formula, wasn't it time he was fed kind of comments. Some family members insisted I fed him every hour on the hour, even went as far as saying I should wake him up to feed.
He's nearly 18 now, still very slim 5"7 and completely healthy so either they're too chunky, tiny, too sleepy, too fussy. There's always some criticism.